


Elizabeth

by SparrowWitch



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-06-17
Updated: 2012-06-17
Packaged: 2018-10-10 10:34:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10435776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparrowWitch/pseuds/SparrowWitch
Summary: Uploading in 2017, not sure where I was going with this tbh, if you have ideas I could run with those! It's about a high school student...





	

Elizabeth slings the heavier-than-normal bag over her shoulder and slips on her $8 shoes. She muses about the odd order her morning routine follows as she opens the door. She calls out a last goodbye to her other as she leaves. Thank fully, her mum is in the shower and isn't going to chase her out the door demanding a kiss goodbye, Elizabeth's mum does that sometimes.

Elizabeth realises her headphones are still in a tangled mess on the ground beneath the couch and the coffee table. She is, however, almost down the front three steps and with the heavy bag on her shoulder, she cannot be bothered to retrieve them. No morning podcast on the way to school today. She quietly sings a made up tune about her life as she walks to school. The heavy bag needs shifting more often than she would like. No one is around so she sings a little louder. Elizabeth likes to think that her singing is no bother to anyone. She knows she isn't fantastic, but she isn't bad. So she hopes the people in their houses can appreciate it. No one is around this late. It's odd, Elizabeth's timing. If she leaves the house at 8:10am or earlier, no one is there on her way to school, and it is a ghost town when she arrives. When Elizabeth leaves the house between 8:20 and 8:30, it is also a very quiet walk, but everyone is already at school. She rolls her shoulders as she shifts the bag once more. It has a costume in it and the coat is particularly heavy. Elizabeth enjoys wearing it home, the teachers do not comment, and it is warm.

Elizabeth loks up, surprised to see that she is already at the school crossing. On days when she leaves at the lonely hours, as she calls them, she always has a quick chat with the crossing guard.

"That's a big bag." He comments. She always forgets his name.

"Yes. It's got that coat I've been wearing in it. For a Media Studies thing." She smiles and so does she, and Elizabeth catches herself hoping he has a nice family, a wife, kids and grandchildren. Maybe this is just a volunteer job he has before and after work. Elizabeth knows that that's not true. She's heard him speak. He's not the brightest and he doesn't come off as well educated. He could still have a nice family, kids that help pay his pension. Things like that.

As Elizabeth's foot touches down on the pavement on the other side of the highway, the pedestrian light is no longer green. It becomes read and the steady click-click-click slows down. It's nice when she times it with her foot hitting the pavement. For a second she can fool herself that she controls the traffic system. Elizabeth always imagines herself with power.

She's at school now, the crossing practically opens onto the short driveway of her school. Elizabeth gives a cursory glance towards the classroom she has first this day. Empty. Because she isn't as late as she feels she is. Good. She walks to her locker. It involves walking past the busiest part of the school and she has to assure herself they are not judging her on the big duffle bag she has slung over her shoulder. She hopes not.

Elizabeth reaches her locker and quickly puts in her combination. She always spins it more times than she needs to at the beginning. No one ever notices. She pulls out her books and shoves the bag, now only filled with her costume, into the top part of her locker. Time to see if anyone is here. She always kids herself with that statement. She doesn't care if her friends are here, there can't be more than 10 minutes until school starts. She only cares if he is here and she isn't. Even in her head the italics seem wrong. Because Elizabeth's life isn't a movie, a novel, the imaginings of someone else somewhere, her life is in no way normal but that doesn't mean it is romantic. In here head "only cares if he is here" sounds romantic, the wording of a girl hopelessly in love. Elizabeth isn't. Elizabeth is different. Elizabeth strives to be different. She has a contrary nature, she dislikes being normal, so she isn't. She's not "hipster" or any other sort of possibly cool in a retro way type of thing. Elizabeth is a nerd, but not with computers, an intelligent girl, but she doesn't study. And she is stubborn as hell.

So when Elizabeth waits for Benjamin. It is because Benjamin is the only other strange one. The only other one is who quite as different as she is. Her other friends are different too, they would be boring if they weren't, but Elizabeth knows her psychology isn't normal, and she suspects Benjamin's isn't either. And that's fantastic.

The bell rings, she's still standing outside her locker. Elizabeth does this sometimes. She'll stand there thinking of Benjamin, and this is because of Tayla. Tayla started it is February-right in the first few weeks or two of year 10-that Elizabeth and Benjamin should go out. It is June now. Term two. And still Tayla persists. Everyone knows about Tayla's idea. Everyone. Even Elizabeth's History and Biology teachers. Her Biology teacher has even told her that she can step in if she wants Tayla to stop. But it's alright. Tayla is a friend.

At the beginning. Elizabeth did not want to go out with Benjamin. He said he was neutral on the subject. But as the idea sizzled away on the Bunsen burner that is Elizabeth's head, she realised she was neutral too. And she means neutral. Elizabeth is quite happy being friends. But she hasn't told Benjamin she is neutral. And that is a priority. But, and Elizabeth hates how this sounds, she forgets her priorities when she's in a good conversation or debate with Benjamin. And she means debate. They have debated over euthanasia, artificial intelligence, what to do in a zombie apocalypse. Many things.

Elizabeth grabs her book s and goes to her first classroom. No one is there so she waits outside by the brick wall. It is about her waist height, so she rests her books on it and thinks about the psychology she was researching yesterday. She had been sick and had the day off. It was Friday today and she was looking forward to it. Two friends, Sarah and Ashleigh, turned up and had a conversation. It was easy to tell when Elizabeth was out of it. She got bored and started profiling Ashleigh before she decided she didn't know enough. But then the teacher arrived and they went in to sit their first class of the day.


End file.
